Another quickfire double review for you today. Aren't you all lucky?! Following on from Linkin Park, we're going back to Little Big Town's February release, The Breaker. A slight change in genre here. This time we're going country! Not a specialist subject of mine, but Tilly is quite the fanatic, so there could be some differences in opinion... We shall see!
Gentle reminder of how we like to rate:
1 - Shouldn't have been recorded
2 - Filler
3 - Above average filler
4 - Killer
5 - Career defining masterpiece
Track 01 - Happy People
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 02 - Night On Our Side
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 03 - Lost In California
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3/5
Track 04 - Free
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 05 - Drivin' Around
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 3/5
Track 06 - We Went To The Beach
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 07 - Better Man
John - 3/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 08 - Rollin'
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 09 - Don't Die Young, Don't Get Old
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 10 - Beat Up Bible
John - 1.5/5
Tilly - 1.5/5
Track 11 - When Someone Stops Loving You
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 12 - The Breaker
John - 3/5
Tilly - 3/5
Conclusion
John - This was almost a great album, and it almost had some excellent songs on. However, there was always something holding those songs back; Lost In California went on for too long, Rollin' had very strong verses but a messy chorus, and Drivin' Around had the opposite. And then we had Beat Up Bible and When Someone Stops Loving You, which needn't have been included at all. Those and the other slower tempo tracks all seemed to be bunched up at the end of the record as well, which just gave the feeling that it was starting to drag in my opinion.I will be listening to some of these again, which is saying something as I'm not a massive fan of country music, purely for the chilled and summery atmosphere, and the at times beautifully poetic lyrics. Also, probably the most varied album we've reviewed thus far, which is a breath of fresh air. On the whole, a frustrating effort from Little Big Town, which could have been a lot better it is. But having said that, I very much enjoyed listening, and I'll certainly be keeping an eye on them and their future releases.
Overall Score - 2.5/5
Tilly - I've always been a pretty big fan of Little Big Town's singles, but have never felt the urge to go and listen to a full album as I didn't know if it might feel as if you were listening to the same song over and over again. However, it came as quite a shock to discover that this is the most varied album Kritikon has reviewed so far. Of course there are the typical country music songs such as Beat Up Bible, which not being religious myself, kind of felt like a waste of an album track despite the well written lyrics, and perhaps When Someone Stops Loving You as well. For the most part though, each track felt insanely different to the last, and of course being a group that shares vocal time, you never get tired of their voices. Overall, The Breaker is an album packed with beautiful lyrics, amazing harmonies and catchy hooks, and I'll eagerly delve into the rest of their discography after listening to it.
Overall Score - 3/5